My Girlfriend Wants Victory

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[The promised death group! Dortmund! Heading towards Group F with Arsenal, Marseille, and Olympiacos.]

[Marseille and Olympiacos in despair at Dortmund’s inclusion.]

[Borussia Dortmund’s Jürgen Klopp reveals his determination for the Champions League. “It took a long time to return to the Champions League. We are in a tough group, but we will do our best to advance through the group stage.”]

[Cheers for Jürgen Klopp’s confident interview! “BVB! BVB! BVB!”]

[Leverkusen’s coach names Son Jinho as the player to watch ahead of the match against Dortmund.]

*

On August 28, 2011.

Dortmund vs. Leverkusen in the Bundesliga Round 4.

Dortmund traveled to Leverkusen’s home ground, BayArena.

Before the match started, I stretched lightly and looked around.

Interestingly, BayArena, Leverkusen’s home ground, had no fences unlike other Bundesliga stadiums.

“…Isn’t it too easy to invade the stadium?”

I couldn’t help but admire the fan-friendly stadium in Leverkusen.

‘They probably didn’t put up fences because fans don’t invade the stadium, right?’

As I worried about a possible spectator invasion.

Beeeeeeep—!

The referee, thinking the players were ready, blew the whistle and signaled the start of the match.

The referee for this match between Dortmund and Leverkusen was Wolfgang Stark.

He was the same referee who received heavy criticism from Korean and Uruguayan media for officiating the match between Korea and Uruguay during the 2010 South Africa World Cup.

He also refereed the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and FC Barcelona in the 2008/2009 season.

Although his infamous decisions in the second leg by referee Ovrebo overshadowed him, Wolfgang Stark had also made notable blunders in that match, gaining quite a reputation for it.

Naturally, Wolfgang Stark’s infamy was quite high in Germany as well.

“No matter how terrible the decisions are, don’t lose your cool! If we show what we’ve prepared calmly, we can win!”

Jürgen Klopp was so concerned that he specifically instructed the players to remain calm, regardless of the referee’s decisions.

‘Oh, I feel uneasy…’

Looking at Wolfgang Stark’s face, an odd sense of anxiety crept over me.

Aaaah—!

“Referee! That’s a foul!”

“Nein! That was a normal tackle.”

And it didn’t take long for my uneasy premonition to come true.

*

[The match is getting rough! Referee Wolfgang Stark is completely failing to control the situation!]

The game between Dortmund and Leverkusen began to escalate due to the referee’s inconsistent and inexplicable decisions.

“Was ist das für ein Stück Scheiße! (What a piece of shit!)”

Before the match, Klopp had told the players to keep their cool, but now he was losing his mind, standing on the touchline with a bright red face protesting.

[Son Jinho’s tackle! Successfully takes the ball cleanly!]

Amidst the tense atmosphere, the match continued.

[Son Jinho! Sends a through pass right into Mario Götze’s path!]

[Receiving the ball is Mario Götze!]

Then, in the 26th minute of the second half, Hanno Balitsch’s rough tackle came towards Mario Götze.

[Hanno Balitsch’s rough tackle!]

Götze barely avoided the tackle, excitedly got up, and harshly shoved Balitsch’s shoulder.

“You pig bastard!”

“Go eat shit, idiot!”

Players from both teams rushed in to separate the two.

[Mario Götze receives a yellow card. Ah… he’s getting sent off.]

Referee Wolfgang Stark awarded both players yellow cards.

[Hanno Balitsch played quite smartly. If you look closely, you can see him provoking Mario Götze right after the rough tackle.]

[That’s right. Dortmund, suffering from Götze’s sending off, is now at a numerical disadvantage. The game is getting quite difficult.]

In the end, Mario Götze was sent off due to accumulated warnings.

*

After Götze’s sending off, Leverkusen’s attacks surged.

A pass was delivered to Stefan Kießling, who suddenly penetrated Dortmund’s backspace.

[Oh! This is dangerous! The back space is wide open!!]

Just as everyone was thinking it would be a goal.

[Stefan Kießling shoots!!]

[Whoa—!! Roman Weidenfeller—!! A super save to save the team!!]

Dortmund’s goalkeeper, Roman Weidenfeller, successfully stopped the shot just in time.

The game continued with Leverkusen’s corner kick.

Dortmund quickly launched a counter-attack after Roman Weidenfeller successfully caught the corner kick.

Robert Lewandowski managed to win the goal kick from Weidenfeller and immediately sent a pass into the path of the wildly sprinting Ivan Perišić.

As Ivan Perišić received Lewandowski’s pass and was about to shoot inside the penalty box.

“Ao! Cross!”

Son Jinho’s voice echoed, and Ivan Perišić reflexively obeyed Son Jinho’s command.

The ball left Ivan Perišić’s toes and slowly flew towards Son Jinho.

Diving into the space between Leverkusen’s defenders and goalkeeper, Son Jinho managed to shake the Leverkusen net with a deft header.

“Hoowww—!”

*

[Dortmund triumphs with a 1-0 victory over Leverkusen on the road!]

[Dortmund wins against Leverkusen! Once again, the hero is Son Jinho!]

[Son Jinho’s header goal saves Dortmund in a crisis moment!]

[Son Jinho, having a fantastic debut season, records 4 goals and 2 assists in 4 matches!]

*

Two days after the match against Leverkusen.

[Park Juyong transfers to Arsenal! Number 9 jersey!]

[Did Wenger’s call seal the transfer?]

Park Juyong transferred to Arsenal, following history as originally written.

I thought it would be better for him to maintain form by transferring to Lille rather than going to Arsenal as a 3rd or 4th option.

Well, that said, I don’t completely misunderstand his choice.

I could somewhat understand Juyong’s feelings.

At 26 years old, this opportunity might be his only chance to transfer to a big club.

‘And Wenger’s call? I can’t resist that.’

In Park Juyong’s mind, he could not help but think of Manchester United’s Ferguson and Park Jisong.

Regardless, now that he’s gone to Arsenal, I hope he does well, unlike in his past life.

*

[Before the Champions League, Dortmund grants rest to its key players.]

[Hertha Berlin claims a 2-1 victory over Dortmund at home.]

[German media evaluates, ‘The true face of the defending champion Dortmund, reliant on a few players, was revealed in this match.’]

[Son Jinho challenges for the youngest appearance and scoring record in the Champions League.]

[Arsène Wenger praises Klopp, calling him ‘a young and promising manager leading the football world.’]

[Jürgen Klopp expresses respect for Arsène Wenger. ‘Wenger is a manager who has made a mark in football history.’]

[Arsène Wenger mentions the Bundesliga’s rising star Son Jinho. ‘Son Jinho is a top-level player.’]

*

As the match between Dortmund and Arsenal approached, the group chat began to become noisier.

-Winter Gyeouri: Uncle, who are you cheering for??

As I opened my smartphone, Winter, who used “uncle” instead of “maternal uncle” because it sounded less familiar, appeared.

-Hwang Geum-soon Chairman: Of course, Arsenal.

-Winter Gyeouri: Whoa. I’m disappointed, Uncle.

-Hwang Geum-soon Chairman: Disappointed? Why’s that? Park Juyong is at Arsenal now, right?

-Winter Gyeouri: No, our Jinho is playing for Dortmund, and you’re cheering for Arsenal?

-Mother-in-law: Oh, come on~ No way~ You’ve been singing praises for our nephew and now you’re going to cheer for Arsenal?

Since that day when Dortmund moved to Group F along with Arsenal.

-Winter Gyeouri: Right, right~ So that means we’re not family with you, uncle~

A fantastic collaborative attack from Manchester United and Chelsea fans against Chairman Hwang Geum-soon, who cheered for Arsenal, ensued.

[Chairman Hwang Geum-soon has left the chat room.]

-Winter Gyeouri: Huh? Uncle left!

In the end, Chairman Hwang Geum-soon couldn’t withstand the collective assault and exited the group chat, concluding the situation.